The invention relates to a waste-heat utilization arrangement of an internal combustion engine, and to a method for operating the waste-heat utilization arrangement, wherein, according to the invention, sensors for determining temperatures and pressures of the working medium are arranged within the circuit of the waste-heat utilization arrangement, and the temperatures and pressures thus determined are used for the regulation and/or control of the throughflow of the working medium through the circuit.
Waste-heat utilization arrangements of internal combustion engines are known from the prior art, for example from the patent AT 512 921 B1. The known waste-heat utilization arrangement comprises a circuit which conducts a working medium, wherein a pump, a distributor valve block, two evaporators, an expansion machine and a condenser are arranged in the circuit in the flow direction of the working medium. The two evaporators are arranged in a parallel circuit, and the parallel circuit begins at the distributor valve block and ends at a junction upstream of the expansion machine.
The known waste-heat utilization arrangement operates most effectively in the presence of constant operating conditions of the internal combustion engine. However, if the internal combustion engine is operated with operating conditions that change relatively quickly over time, the expansion machine must be operated with a relatively high average outlet temperature of the working medium in order to avoid condensing of the working medium in the expansion machine at critical operating points of the internal combustion engine.